According to Reuters, Apple's iPad 2 sold one million units in its launch weekend, surpassing the milestone almost 10 times as fast as its predecessor.

The iPad 2 went on sale last Friday at Apple, Verizon, and AT&T stores, as well as Target, Wal-Mart, and Best Buy. Large crowds were reported across the United States, with more than 500 people queued up at Apple's flagship San Francisco store and roughly another 800 at its Manhattan location. The crowds even attracted gawkers.

"Our field checks over the weekend indicate that the iPad 2 sold out at every Apple and non-Apple store we contacted," Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White wrote in a research note. "In fact, all the stores had worked through iPad 2 inventory by Saturday afternoon, and there were no new iPad 2 deliveries on Sunday."

White told Reuters that the iPad 2 could potentially have sold one million units in its first weekend, a feat that took 28 days for the original when it hit the market last year. Wedbush Securities analyst Scott Sutherland echoed White's prediction.

With the launch, Apple appears to have secured its number one spot in the tablet market for the time being, cooling the momentum that tablets from other manufacturers such as Motorola and Samsung were beginning to gain.

Apple is expected to retain 61 percent of the lucrative tablet market for 2011, according J.P. Morgan analyst Mark Moscowitz. According to Moscowitz, other companies will have trouble attracting customers the way Apple has.

The iPad 2 is set to launch worldwide on March 25.

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I'm not sure most people don't think it will "catch on" but they don't think it will over take conventional Desktops and Laptops as consumers' main computing device. There has been much hype in the media about that and that is still to be seen. Only time will tell, though my money is on the lappy/netbook.

But then again, the iPad with a cover on it is essentially a lappy/netbook that doesn't run a full powered OS like OSX, Windows, or any flavor of Linux. So I may be wrong when the lines of definition are blurred.

But personally I know that I don't need anything for the space between a laptop and a smartphone or PMP.

I think you're shifting the goalposts there, quite dramatically too. The predictions are that the iPad and tablets would fail totally, and no one would want one, period. Not that they would replace desktops and laptops. Tablets have always been an additional device.

Reading your post, I don't know who ever said they will never sell... etc, but I like using a computer and a real keyboard. I will never get a tablet cause I don't need one, don't see the appeal and don't give a damn about this entire dumb ass argument.What the hell are you trying to prove? Really.All you people arguing this crap... Get a life!

I just find the sheer level of denial, and the Apple distortion field (not the one your thinking of, but the one that Apple haters see through) which makes some people not be able to comprehend what is right in front of their eyes. A popular product, selling well, that people clearly want and other companies are trying to copy. Yet because it's tablets are all about Apple, people want to say that it's not happening, or that it's only posers wanting to look kool etc, the same old.

Yeah, there's no real point to my comment. But then, what point is there to any comment or argument on here? Also, it's not a dumb as argument. That implies that there are 2 opinions, and people are arguing them. The point is that even after the sales figures came in for the iPad, people still denied what was in black and white. That's not an argument, that's, well, I'm not sure. Deluded?

How can you argue that something that sells in the millions (~15 million world wide!) is not going to sell and will fail? That's exactly what has been happening here, not only since the iPad was announced (when speculation was fair enough, even though it was guided largely by wanting it to fail because it was made by Apple, rather than a genuine opinion about how well it might do) but long after it started to sell well.

What annoys me too is that the fact that Apple have been the only real player in the table market, has meant that people here have been negative about the whole idea of tablets, not just the iPad, but the form factor as a whole.

For the record, I don't own an Apple product (and wont until they open up who can make hardware for it etc) and am I not a fan, but I recognise when something is popular and wont hate on a product or idea just because of the person or company who dreamt it up and produced it.

quote: A popular product, selling well, that people clearly want and other companies are trying to copy. Yet because it's tablets are all about Apple, people want to say that it's not happening, or that it's only posers wanting to look kool etc, the same old.

I'll vouch for you. I'm no fan of Apple (their policies so disgust me I've been going out of my way to avoid their products). But I've long seen the tablet form factor as a viable market. I ate a lot of downratings here for stating that belief shortly before the iPad was released.

The iPad isn't perfect - far from it. But it comes a lot closer than anything that came before it. And the sales bear it (and my stance) out.

If you had been here before the Ipad was first released...well frankly, even well after, a majority of the MS wankers on this site predicted and declared this over and over...some of the article writers put it in print....

I guess I'm just an old white man who doesn't really need to move out of his comfort zone. I don't like carrying around computers when I can just leave them at home.

I had a smart phone but my Palm Treo Pro with Windows Mobile 6.1 was anything but smart. Apple kicked ass and MS deserved to get kicked to the curb for that POS I bought.

It now sits on a shelf and I'm currently using a Samsung slider phone with no internet/email and what it does is plenty smart enough. It's a phone. It's small, light and the battery lasts.

What is obvious to me is that Steve Jobs is a genius. What he did for Apple is f'n incredible. Apple is leading the way in handhelds and well... just look at what they've released and the incredible popularity of it.Of course, some would say he's an evil genius but a genius nonetheless.

Do I need an iPhone? Hell no. Would I but an ipod? Nope. Why? See self description in opening sentence. I have a 1GB Sansa Clip which cost me $19 and that's alright by me.

Don't hate me just because I don't care what people spend their hard earned money on. Just don't hit me up for a loan should you forget the rent money when buying Apple products.

Do I need an iPhone? Hell no. Would I but an ipod? Nope. Why? See self description in opening sentence. I have a 1GB Sansa Clip which cost me $19 and that's alright by me.

I agree. I don't own anything made by Apple, & what some people are paying for the phones plus the monthly fees, & data plans are ridiculous. I bought me Samsung Freeform 2 phone from Metro PCS, $40/month, has all the services I need. I have a computer at home but don't need a portable, or need anything like an Ipad. If you have a need for it great but it seems many just buy new tech devices or charge them to their credit cards just to have a new tech. I am not one to tell anyone what to buy, but I thought there was a recession, or $4 gas prices going on. The IPAD ocost more than my monthly mortgage, noway could I see buying one. Say what you want but Apple has done a great job getting it's buyers to continue to buy it's products, many just bought the IPAD1, & rushed out to buy the IPAD2. Same for the Iphone.

quote: the DT consensus is that the iPad wont catch on, will fail etc...

Did you even put up any posts for me to shift? Your comment was way too general to say that you had established some goalposts.

quote: The predictions are that the iPad and tablets would fail totally, and no one would want one, period.

Find me one person (even some troll on the Net) that said that. I don't follow everything that is said about the iPad, but didn't they take preorders? Doesn't that mean that you would be insane to say they wouldn't sell one iPad.

Even those who dismiss all of Apple's success as the doings of the cult of Jobs would say that thousands of devotees would buy them out of stock and make it a success.

I think you are the one who is exaggerating you recollection of comments made here.

Of course I could be wrong, but we were talking about the consensus of opinion anyway even if you could find one person saying that. Anyway that was my impression of the tone around the Web, take it or leave it. You can always just close your eyes, cover your ears and go, "la la la" and feel vindicated somehow that you are 100% correct though.

lol, are you being serious? Just go back through the DT articles about the original iPad and you'll see.

Shifting goal posts? No one mentioned that iPads would, or were ever meant to, replace desktop PCs and laptops, that's the measure that you decided to add for some reason. What I said was that people thought that the iPad would fail and no one would buy them. That's pretty simple measure of failure, isn't it? You decided to change the measure of failure to be something that the iPad was never intended to achieve any way.

As for the Apple cult/devotees in general. It is funny how "the cult of jobs" has grown and grown and grown. The number of his "devotees" has moved well beyond the cult range, and dismissing their success like this is just a little sad. Trying to make out that it's not a successful product really, as it's only bought by Apple cult members is silly.

It's being bought by many people because they like what it is and does, not because they have been brain washed, but keep on telling yourself that, and moving the goal posts and expanding the definition of what it takes to be a cult member to delude yourself into thinking that you are right.

People here need to realise that they can't constantly dismiss high sales by saying that it's only Appleites and cult members when sales reach the level they have. Yet that's what happens here all the time.

By the way, the tone around the web might be one thing, but the tone on DT is quite different. Sorry to have to be the one to break it to you, though your use of phrases like "cul of Jobs" should mean that you are right at home here.

quote: Can anyone explain to me how you could possibly type on this without setting it flat on a table and using the two index finger approach? It isn't set up at an angle, and there is no where for your palms to rest. Sounds like some multi-touch multi-fail.

To which YOU replied:

quote: I was thinking the same thing. There are more images on Anand's Analysis of the iPad by the way. You either have to slouch around the office with your feet up on a ledge that is level with your head, in order to get the required angle, or welcome aching wrists by typing at an angle when it's in a protective case. It seems like one of the bigger problems with it as a genuine productivity (not just a novelty fancy gaming iPod for kids) device, to add to the long list above. Might be good as a portable media player though, once you've converted your video files to the limited container formats supported of course.

And here is one of those (apparent) Apple haters that I mentioned saying:

Mark my words. In 5 years 90% of consumers will need only a tablet. The other 10% will use a laptop for getting things done, creating content etc. Most consumers are just that - consumers of media/data/content. Add cloud computing to the equation and there is no "it remains to be seen". It just will be.

There will always be PC's. People who do real work could never possibly use a tablet for anything but the most basic of tasks.Theres digital imaging, design, 3D, CAD, rendering, game design, hardcore gamers, business, scientific, and tons of other areas that need the power of a PC, the hardware, the versatility, peripherals/options. All the people in these areas add up to a large portion of the market.

How can a device with a couple of USB ports, tiny screen, no keyboard/mouse, and pathetically under powered hardware (for these types of things) possibly be used for this stuff. Even my 4GHz 980X system with 24GB RAM is not fast enough for my rendering work.

Then theres people like yourself, and for you a tablet may be a good option, but dont fool yourself that it's for everyone, will replace PC, or could even remotely compete in many areas.

I don't really see why, but you're right. Netbooks seem far more useful to me. Only reason I didn't get one is because of cheap laptops. Got my current 13" Acer for about the same price at a netbook, ~$350 IIRC. If I needed the battery life I'd have gotten one but I didn't so I got this instead.

Netbooks fail at almost everything they attempt to do. Battery life sucks, keyboards are cramped, and they are woefully underpowered. Tablets such as the iPad don't try to do nearly as much but what they try to do they do it well.

I wouldn't purchase either of these devices but if I had to pick one and you were going to give it to me for free it would DEFINITELY be an iPad or equivalent. I would use it. I wouldn't use a netbook. I can't stand netbooks.

10 hours of battery life is fail? Come on now. You can say it's underpowered, but the battery life is just fine. For just about anything I'd do on a tablet I could do on a netbook just fine. Just preference I suppose. I wouldn't use either of them either, but I'd also make the opposite choice that you did.

I think they are just evolving into 11 - 13" ULVs or Fusion units. Atom is too much the same as it ever was - hardly a reason for people to upgrade. Likewise, integrated graphics, 10" screens etc. If I had, say, 2 year old netbook, the only reason to get a new one would be if my original one has died. Contrary to the desktop upgrades (or replacements) where every new generation of CPU/GPU/... gives noticeable boost in performance, Atom based netbooks are pretty much on the same level they always were.

But ULVs like M11x, or even Fusion units... tempting, for me at least.

Yeah, I love my 11.6" Celeron sub notebook. The thing is, I've had it a year and there's nothing better out there for the same price. In fact, a similar machine now costs at least the same, if not more than it did a year ago? In deed, there used to be dual core alternatives available back when I bought this notebook, but not any more? Things have actually gone backwards, to a certain extent, here in the UK.

I'm looking forward to the see what AMD's Fusion SoC can bring to the party (coupled with a cheap SSD perhaps) but that's just me, and you (and probably most others here too). The thing is, people here go on about "full fledged" and "real" OSes etc, but the gen pop, out there in the rest of the world are increasingly getting used to being able to get what they want done on a device by simply jabbing at a screen.

Netbook/notebook PCs have stagnated in the last 12-18 months. Huge gains are being made in the tablet world, and they also have hte added onus of being quite fun to use. Not like the boring old PC that is just like the one that you have to use at the office.

Netbooks didn't really die, manufacturers just shifted them into something they weren't supposed to be. The first netbooks ran a simplified OS which quickly gave you access to a few primary apps (web browser, email, IM, photo and video viewer, etc - sound familiar?).

Then Microsoft and Intel got into the game and steered them towards full-featured mini-laptops which ran Windows. They basically abandoned the market for a low-end device with "a simplified OS which quickly gave you access to a few primary apps" device. For a time the closest thing to filling that hole was the Blackberry, but it was too small and limited. The iPad filled that market hole nicely when it was introduced.

Like I've been saying since before the iPad was introduced, there is a market for this type of simple device. Netbooks originally filled it, but then abandoned it to run Windows. Now tablets are filling it. It doesn't have to be an iPad or an Android 3.0 tablet which fills it. But something has to fill it because there's clearly demand for it, despite all the big manufacturers and technophiles wishing there wasn't.

Agreed. This iPad vs. netbook debate could be almost be equated to the (non-existant) iOS vs. OSX debate seeing as the iPad runs iOS and netbooks run full OSs like OSX (e.g. Air). OSX pwns iOS. Fact.

<valley girl voice>Umm...yeah like the iPad is better than OSX because it has apps, yeah. Duh!</vgv>

You can't run OSX on the iPad. This is the basis of why I think this iPad craze is a fad to great extent. I'm not saying that people are wasting their money or what not, but that give it a couple years when Windows or Ubuntu (or even OSX) is running on every tablet (which BTW has been going on for many years, albeit with limited demand) and then people will wonder why they thought the oversized iPhone was a revolution in the tech sector.

I'm still wondering why Applephiles aren't touting Jobs' other creation, the Air, as a game changer like they do with everything else. And then there are other devices that get no play whatsoever. Even Apple devices like the Magic Trackpad (which works great with Ubuntu I hear).